Pokemon: Selenite
by elliott ashes
Summary: As a girl begins her Pokemon quest, she stumbles upon a discovery that will forever change her life and lead her into a web of conspiracies, conflicts, and revelations.


Pokemon: Selenite

Chapter One

Discovery

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Who would have guessed?

A/N: Okay, this is my first time writing for the Pokemon fandom since I was in grade four. I don't know how good it is, so reviews, especially constructive criticism, are appreciated.

…

Neon town. They call it the city that never sleeps, and that's fairly accurate; she would know, having lived there all of a month, and suffered from insomnia all that time. Of course, that was probably better attributed to the fact that she had recently spent most nights up studying for her Pokemon trainer's exam, and when she wasn't studying it was hard to get her body to settle back into a normal sleeping pattern. She had taken her exam this morning, but didn't yet know the results. So, like any other day where she didn't have to study, she sneaked out and walked up and down the streets. She'd done this many times before, and knew she wouldn't get in trouble as long as she didn't get caught.

Which she probably would today. It had started to rain, coming down in cold heavy drops that immediately drenched her and turned the sidewalk that weird brown colour. The rain smelled like smoke, she noted. Maybe there was a fire nearby, and the ashes had mingled with the water vapor in the air. Not that it really mattered anyway, but there was nothing else to do now besides think about things, was there?

The rain looked kind of like stained glass as it fell in front of the neon lights from which the town got its name. The water was dripping from the tips of her shoulder-length black hair, and droplets clung to her thin-rimmed silver glasses, obscuring her already poor vision. She found she didn't really care. That test had been hard, and she was sure she'd gotten most of the answers wrong. She felt kind of burned out, and could do nothing but wait with dull anticipation for tomorrow to come.

She was hit by a splash of clear water as car drove past through the deep puddles. The vehicle was silver and expensive looking, with windows tinted so dark she couldn't see inside. That's weird, she thought. You usually didn't see people driving those in the Kanto region.

The downpour didn't let up for one second, and as the streets became one big puddle the water seemed to thrash around wildly. It reminded her of that Gyrados she had seen, a trainer riding it across a lake. It was what had made her first want to become a trainer: having the power to travel anywhere, no one able to stop her. No one able to tell me what to do, she thought dreamily.

"Amanda!" a voice called from behind her, and startled, she jerked out of her musings and turned around. She saw her older sister coming towards her, an angry expression on her face.

"Hey Katana," she said nonchalantly.

Katana was seven years older than Amanda, making their respective ages 17 and 10. They looked quite different, although there was a definite family resemblance. They both had startlingly green eyes and dark hair and skin. Katana was much taller, and always looked elegant, in contrast to her short, clumsy sister. The older girl also tended to be quieter. "I'm so glad I found you, hopefully Mom hasn't had a chance to notice you're missing and freak out yet. What are you trying to do, running off like that? Do you…" At that point, Amanda stopped paying attention to what she was saying, as something else caught her attention.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something moving. It was small, light-coloured. It ducked behind a garbage can before she could make out any more details. Cautiously, she approached it, trying not to splash the water around too much as she walked. Katana had fallen silent as she noticed what Amanda was doing. Just as the younger girl was about to reach out to move the can aside, Katana grabbed her arm.

"What do you think you are doing?" she hissed, in that peculiar accent she had. She had lived in many different cities and even regions, giving her a fusing of different dialects. Amanda knew she probably had the same quirk, but to her it seemed more noticeable in her sister.

"There's something behind there!" she whispered back frantically.

"I know that! But you're just a kid, you can't just go up to strange Pokemon!"

"I'm not a little child, and how do you know it's a Pokemon. There don't seem to be any in this city anyway," she complained.

"Be quiet, you're going to scare it off! Just let me go up to it, okay?"

Amanda grudgingly conceded.

The moment Katana touched the garbage can, the thing jumped out, causing her to jerk her hand back and both sisters to gasp in shock. The thing appeared to be a mix of brown and white, and was flapping around in a blur, spraying water droplets everywhere. It had feathers, so Amanda assumed it was some sort of bird Pokemon. Suddenly, the thing stopped its frantic fluttering and collapsed to the ground, barely moving. It was indeed a bird Pokemon, just a tiny thing with shiny black eyes and dark brown feathers on its small wings and most of its body, with white plumage on its chest.

"A pidgey," stated Katana.

Amanda groaned inwardly. She hadn't even been able to recognize a common pidgey. There was no way she could have passed that test. What would happen, would she have to take it again next year?

She realized the pidgey still wasn't moving. "Is it sick or something?" she asked. Katana was an expert on bird Pokemon, they being her specialty. But to her surprise, her sister just shrugged.

"I don't know," she said finally. "There seems to be something wrong with its wings, but I'm not sure what." She slowly bent down, and gently reached out to pick up the bird Pokemon. Its eyes widened in what even Amanda recognized as terror, but it didn't struggle. Katana made a disgusted sound. "Its wings have been clipped. Honestly, who would do that to a Pokemon and then release it into the wild? It has no chance of survival if we leave it here. We should probably take it to a Pokemon center until its flight feathers grow back and it recovers from whatever illnesses it probably has from being unable to catch enough food in the wild."

"Okay, we should probably head out now."

"You mean _I _should probably head out now. _You_ have to go home and change before you catch pneumonia," ordered Katana.

"But I found the Pidgey!"

"Look, I don't have time to argue with you! Every second we waste is putting this creature's life in danger. Besides, you're scaring it."

The creature had puffed itself up into what would have been a threatening pose had it not been soaking wet. Instead, it just looked frail and bizarre.

"Fine," said Amanda, turning around and sulking as she walked back to the house.


End file.
